Weekend Birding: Pigeons at the Pond

The Rock Pigeon is a common bird found in cities around the world. They are plentiful in Chicago, and when I worked in the city I would see them roosting under the elevated train tracks, scavenging along the sidewalks and plazas downtown or nesting on buildings and window ledges.

Pigeons under the train tracks

After a while they became so ubiquitous, I would forget they were there. They are common even in the suburbs and are often seen congregating in flocks under bridges and along roads.

For most of us, pigeons are an urban bird that subsists on dropped scraps of fast food, stale bread and bird seed. But every once in a while I’ll see them in a natural area.

Pigeons at the pond

Last week I was out looking for warblers and other spring migrants. The common Rock Pigeon was not a bird I was expecting to find along the nature trail pecking in the grass by the pond. From a distance I thought the birds were Mourning Doves, but Mourning Doves are larger and have bigger heads. A closer look through the binoculars revealed a pair of Rock Pigeons.

A few cool facts

Pigeons can find their way home when released from a distant location. They navigate by sensing the earth’s magnetic fields and possibly using sound and smell.

Mesopotamian cuneiform tablets and Egyptian hieroglyphics suggest that pigeons were domesticated more than 5,000 years ago.

Rock Pigeons carried messages for the U.S. Army Signal Corps during World War I and II.

The male chooses the nest site and both male and female incubate the eggs and feed the young.

Saturday Snapshot was originated by Alyce at At Home With Books. It is now hosted by Melinda of West Metro Mommy. Visit her blog to see more great photos or add your own.

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19 Comments

You did a great job of capturing the beautiful pastel gradations of color on the pigeon’s neck. I’ll admit I’ve always thought of pigeons as birds that leave poop everywhere — urban birds. What a delight to discover them out in nature!
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It’s a shame pigeons are so common really- they’re a perfect example of familiarity breeds contempt. I know they’re viewed as rats with wings by many people. The colours are so pretty if you really look at the birds.